What published authors know

There’s something that authors who’ve been published know that people who aren’t published don’t, usually.

I’m going to tell you upfront, too, because we have stuff to talk about here.

Published authors know this: the book doesn’t happen by itself.

I mean, that’s a little elementary, I know. Of course, they, the author, write the book – putting fingers to keyboard, pen to paper, etc. But what they know and that we need to know is that they don’t go through the process alone.

Most authors have support of some kind. Whether that takes the form of a patient and long-suffering partner or spouse, who keeps things running in the house and acts as a sounding-board for when characters get it into their heads that they’re going to behave how they want, not how The Writer wants, or whether it’s a writer’s group, or a writing accountability buddy, or a coach, or whatever: they have support.

Most of us have an idea in our heads that authors, real-capital-A Authors, work in tortured isolation, shunning social outings, stretched on the rack of their own pure creative genius. Even if this does look like a wacky, stereotypical thought to have, the construct still exists. Somewhere, deep down, we believe that being able to say, “I did it all myself” will somehow make us worth more. Our independence will somehow be applauded, and our self-worth will skyrocket.

Not so.

You’d like the proof? Just take a look at the dedications and thank-you pages of any book on your shelves. There are always people who have supported the authors mentioned there, usually in great numbers. I worked on a speedy edit/proofing job with an author once, just a day before her book went to the printer’s. Out of the four hours we worked together, a whole ONE of those hours was spent on the acknowledgements page. That’s a quarter of the time we worked together! It seems a lot of time, but she truly wanted to get the thank-you page right, and for good reason.

The image of an author, working away in isolation, subject to the whims of a fickle muse, is a myth.

There is support out there for you if you’re writing a book. I coach people (yes, ordinary people) who need to write a book. We get through the fears, the blocks, and deal with the self-worth demons, and connect to the muse of the project at hand. She is there, waiting. I happen to think that Muses are androgynous, and can take many forms…getting to know the Muse of a particular project? That’s part of the fun!

Basically, what I want to get to here is this: books take more than one person to write, as much as we’d like to think otherwise. If you’re trying by yourself, your road will be harder than the courageous author next door who asks for help.

If you’d like to talk to me about how I work, feel free to call or email. I’d love to help!